Looking for UFOs

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Yesterday we drove for an hour into the mountains, headed for the Mojanda Lakes, 3700 metres above sea level (1,000m higher than Otavalo). It´s the first time we´ve ever been out for a walk with a policeman, a chauffeur and an outdoor specialist. The greatest danger we faced was stepping in caca de vaca (cowpats or wolf droppings). We thought the policeman plus walkie-talkie might have been supplied in case one of us collapsed in a heap. However, you´ll be glad to hear that we didn´t let New Zealand down; we all held our own very well. We had a lovely tramp part-way around one of the lakes, and especially enjoyed the trip up and down, over a cobbled and rough roads, past beautiful haciendas, with frequent swerves for potholes and roadworks.

We were especially on the lookout for UFOs as one of the members of our homestay family saw one out there while camping last year! But no more luck with that than with the Grand Guinea Pig...

Now we´re looking forward to our next stop, moving on to Banos on Saturday morning. It´s a bit ominous that all the teachers in the area have fled, but let it not be said that we´re pikers! What´s a little volcanic eruption between lessons? If all else fails, we´ll be taking our own teacher from Banos with us.

Tomorrow is our final day of school in Otavalo, followed by lunch with our teachers, and then a trip to some pre-Inca ruins, for a bit of culture. Never a spare moment!

This afternoon we paid a visit to the Parque Condor, and discovered that the condor is a real bird. It´s an enormous vulture. Unfortunately the pair had fed well this morning, and couldn´t be lured far out of their den. There were lots of other birds of prey as well.

It appears to be a cultural no-no for women of our age to be drinking beer, so we have to lurk in bars, or carry cans home in dark plastic bags, and hide the evidence afterwards.

We´d appreciate any messages about airline holdups, forearmed is forewarned, and we´re not keeping up with world news that well (not that we´re missing it).

Intrepid as we are, we´re now going to have a go at putting some more photos on here, but don´t hold your breath! If there are more than 5, then we´ve been successful! Here goes ...

Saludos, DGRJ

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